Movie-goer takes buttery slide, sues Hollywood Theaters

A Nederland woman says she was required to undergo surgery after she slipped on butter at a local movie theater.

On March 17, Kimberly Denise Heisner filed suit in Jefferson County District Court against Hollywood Theaters, alleging she slipped on a mat beneath a butter bar after she purchased popcorn and drinks from the concession stand on Nov. 23.

The butter bar sits on one end of the concession stand and allows patrons to self-serve butter on their popcorn, the complaint says. Beneath the bar is a rubber floor mat.

"The self service butter bar created a dangerous condition in that butter was apparently dribbled onto the floor and got underneath the floor mat," Heisner's lawyer, Pat McGinnis of Beaumont, wrote in the suit. "After getting her concessions Kimberly Denise Heisner went to the butter bar, which had other items such as napkins and straws to get what she needed and the mat slipped under her and she fell to the floor injuring herself seriously and requiring medical attention including surgery."

In addition to the surgery, Heisner claims she incurred medical expenses, experienced and will continue to experience physical pain, suffering and mental anguish and lost earnings.

She also sustained a loss of earning capacity, loss of consortium in the past and future, loss of household services in the past and future and loss of wages in the past and future, the complaint says.

Hollywood Theaters was negligent through its failure to properly inspect the flooring area, through its failure to maintain the floor in a safe condition, through its failure to give adequate warnings to Heisner of the unsafe condition, through its failure to remove the butter in a reasonable time and by setting up the butter bar, according to the suit.

Heisner is seeking unspecified exemplary damages, plus pre-judgment interest at the maximum rate, post-judgment interest at the legal rate, costs and other relief to which she may be entitled.

The case has been assigned to Judge Gary Sanderson, 60th District Court.

Case No. B183-549